Asking for exceptions for book publishers in the name of Culture is like asking for exceptions for high furnaces in the name of Chillida.﻿

sábado, 26 de julio de 2014

Covers

"Never look at covers"? Well, sort of, sort of not. For example, I try not to look at Baen covers. I mostly find them horrible, and I wouldn't approach most of those books if I was checking those. I know, it works for them. And there are some good ones out there. Most? Way to 80s pulp, for me.
Romance? I positively hate romance covers, but I'm not quite a romance reader. I've read and enjoyed Kris deLake's work [aka, Kris Rusch]. Plus, her books don't violate one of my standards[*]. But most romance covers? Might as well burn them.
Ans so on. I do like some covers, and some others make me go "hmm... let's see". Most covers? Not really, no. Not even with fantastic artists. Part of it is clutter. Probably because artist and designer are not the same guy, many covers jam the visual impact of the art to properly impress the reader with the author's name. Or title. Or... Which kinda tosses away the whole idea behind hiring a good artist. See here.
So, basically, I try not to look at covers. On average, it's better for the writer.
Take care.
[*] I'm becoming an Equal Nudity Reader. Male nudes on cover? No problem. But then, don't dress the partner. Same for half nudes. I don't require full frontals (it's simply a cover), I do require "equal opportunity".﻿